Typical Carpathian blouses

The blouse was the most important item of female folk costume; it was what structurally bound together the costume as a whole. Romanian folk costume is inconceivable without the blouse. In fact it clothed the whole body, and in this respect it was both an undergarment and at the same time an outward adornment. The blouse pleated at the neck was made from four pieces of cloth: two for the front and back, and two for the sleeves. The neck opening was made simply by pleating the four pieces of cloth, using a flax or hemp thread, called a brezărău. This shirt has a structure identical with those worn by the Dacian women on the Adamclisi monument.